¹My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ²For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, ³do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? ⁴If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? ⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? ⁸But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. ¹⁰For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. ¹²Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. ¹³For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment. ¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it?¹⁷So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear. ²⁰But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless? ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.²⁵And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.